It was another busy Monday in Metropolis, and five women were out together at Metropolis most famous bridal shop. Dinah was behind the dressing room putting on her new dress while Helena (Huntress), Beatriz (Fire), Tora (Ice), and Mari waited.
"Come on Dinah! You can't keep us all waiting!"
"I have seen other models take two hours to put a bikini on, just wait," Mari snapped back grinning. She used her connections in the fashion industry to allow Dinah to get a discount and appointment at one of the most expensive bridal shops. Plus Ollie's money did not hurt either.
"I am sure you will look lovely my dear," Beatriz said in her Brazilian accent.
Tora just sat and did not say anything; she was usually cold and quiet. Dinah just invited Mari and Beatriz from the League, but Beatriz was insistent her partner Tora would come as well. Helena, while no longer part of the League was also invited because she was Dinah's maid of honor.
"When Vic and I wed, we both just got the first tux and dress we could fine."
"But not everybody wants to elope like you two did. Some of us like to take our time," Mari joked.
Helena snorted at the remark and decided to change the topic.
"So how are things in the League lately? Vic refuses to tell me anything."
There was an awkward pause as the three women looked at each other. Finally Tora broke the silence, startling everybody. Helena never heard her talk before.
"Well Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl and Zatanna got bought at a date auction by-"
"Bruce Wayne who is also Batman I know."
Beatriz immediately put her fingers to her lips to signal Helena to stop talking. That was not something you said in public.
"How did you know?" asked a confused Beatriz.
Mari rolled her eyes, "Dear, it's the biggest open secret in the League. Come on!"
"I only knew because Wally told me-"
"Which is exactly why it's the biggest open secret," Mari said quickly making sure Beatriz dropped the subject.
"I am personally glad you dumped him," said Tora bluntly.
"I did not dump him! After a few dates we realized we should just be friends. We still get along well!"
"I don't buy it," said a disbelieving Helena. "All break ups end bad."
"When John and I broke up it was rather civil," Mari said to no one particular as she reminisced about that fateful day a two weeks ago.
"I- you and John broke up?" Helena asked in shock. She was so going to kill Vic for not telling her these things.
"Yes we both decided as much as we loved each other, we were not going to go anywhere because something's holding him back. He will always love her," Mari said a little disdainfully. The breakup may have been civil, but it did not mean she still hurt from it. She knew it was not Shayera's fault but still, a woman could only handle so much blame for herself.
"So is John back with-"
"No," Tora cut in. "He is still single. Besides that's the least of Shayera's problems."
"What do you mean?"
"Diana and she got into the mother of all fights after that date auction. Apparently both were tricked by Zatanna into attending it and were both upset because they were bought by Bruce Wayne."
Well this was surely juicier than she anticipated. Helena decided to press further, "But why did they not fight Zatanna?"
"I think it's more due to the fact Shayera and Diana still had some deep tension since the Thangarian invasion," said Beatriz giving an insightful explanation.
"Aren't they like best friends now?"
"Being best friends does not mean you still have issues with the other," Mari pointed out and then lowered her voice to a whisper. "I am sure you have some issues with Dinah still as well."
Helena, choosing not to lower her voice responded, "Yea so what? When we have issues we spar with each other."
"But the fight Shayera and Diana got in was not sparring, it was all out war. Diana blamed Shayera for tricking her to go on the date auction and all hell broke loose. It took Superman to break it up," Tora blurted.
"I still do not understand why they were upset being bought by Bruce Wayne," Beatriz pondered.
That earned all blank stares from Helena, Tora, and Mari.
"You mean Wally did not even tell you that history?" Mari asked disbelieving.
"I am sorry. The few dates Wally and I went on, we talked about ourselves not other people!" Beatriz replied defensively.
Mari sighed, "Well basically Bruce and Diana had this quasi relationship. They never really consummated it or went on an official date but they both had this attraction with each other."
Helena shook her head, "I always thought he had a thing with Catwoman."
Tora stepped into the conversation again, "But he never settled with Catwoman. His relationship with her was more just physical short term not long term. He is pretty much in love with Diana."
Mari nodded, "John told me once that in the earlier days of the League, Diana got buried under a missile and Bruce went insane trying to dig her out. When Diana got herself out and saw that Bruce tried to claw her out with his bare hands she kissed him."
Helena immediately dropped her mocha latte she had been sipping. Luckily it was almost empty so it did not spill.
"Diana kissed Bruce?"
Mari nodded. Usually gossip was beneath her but this was Batman and Wonder Woman, one of the most interesting relationships of all time.
"Yes. Diana once also told me they kissed during the invasion to pretend they were a married couple. Diana admitted she enjoyed it and she was willing to bet Bruce did as well."
"Why did she tell you this?" asked Tora curiously.
"John asked me to talk to her because Bruce was being distant to her after a mission with Morgaine La Fay. You know where everyone was transported to a different dimension?"
"Yeah that was creepy," Helena pointed out.
"Well anyways she said she tried reaching out to him after it and she just got a cold rebuff from him. She was really confused how a man could show so much love for her but then coldly push her away."
"It's because he is afraid to get hurt," Tora pointed out. "He has suffered so much loss."
"But it seems odd for Diana to hate him so much just because he is scared to hurt her. That is sweet I think in a weird way," Beatriz justified.
Tora shook her head at her best friend, "Diana is not the most experience with relationships. Also Bruce did break her heart when he cut himself off from the League."
"Yeah I remember Vic was even startled by that. He could not even figure it out why Batman would leave out of nowhere."
"There were so much wild rumors around the Watchtower. One of the popular ones were Batman snapped and killed the Joker finally because the clown disappeared around that time. Superman firmly denied it but he himself did not know exactly what happened," Mari explained to everyone. She used to date a founder after all.
"Does anybody really know?" asked Helena. If her husband could not figure this out, damn it she would.
Mari paused to think before continuing, "I am pretty sure Zatanna does. She and Bruce go way back. She is one of the few people Bruce remotely trusts."
Tora snorted, "Not anymore though after she tricked him into that date auction!"
"How does someone-"
"You all suck!" cried an angry voice of the bride to be who was standing in front of them in her new fitted gown hands on her hips. "
I have been standing here for five minutes and you are all too busy gossiping."
"Oh my God Dinah! You look gorgeous!" Helena said. She was not lying; the dress did really bring out Dinah's slim figure.
"Like I said Dinah, you could do some modeling on the side with Beatriz and me!"
"We should do a Justice League Calendar Female Edition. The UN would not have to fund us for years!" Dinah joked.
"Yeah but you know how Diana would react," Mari muttered and everyone groan. They all remembered the Great Stripper Secret Santa Fiasco a few Christmases ago.
After winning the approval of her friends, Dinah went back to the designer and told him it was fine. The designer seemed very pleased with himself and he kissed all the ladies on the cheek good bye before rushing them out of his establishment. He had a lot of customers today and could not take his time.
"So as I was asking," Helena said as they walked along the clean streets of Metropolis to find a place for lunch. "How do you trick someone to buy people at a date auction?"
"From what I heard was Zatanna wanted to make Bruce jealous of Diana in attempt to get him out of his cave but somehow a perfect storm hit and he accidently ended up buying all three women. Boy the look on Diana's face was scary. I cannot believe no one in the tabloids has really noticed it."
The ladies all giggled at that. Diana was nice but did have some sort of smug attitude with her sometimes so it was funny to see her get upset.
"I don't understand though. I know Bruce pretty well and I always thought Zatanna had a thing for him," Dinah inputted. She was determined to insert herself in this conversation as well.
"Girl don't we all at some point had a crush on Bruce? The guy is an asshole but he is the stereotypical hot bad boy we all love!" Mari teased.
All her friends nodded in agreement, despite his faults, Bruce did seem to have this allure to him.
"Honestly she does have a crush but she once told me herself when she was a little tipsy at a Christmas party that she rather see Bruce happy than miserable. She believes Bruce is happy with Diana," Helena said, getting all their attention again.
"How so? I don't think they like each other anymore," Beatriz pointed out.
"Love works in mysterious ways," Helena mused stoically. "I mean look at Vic and myself. The guy is a complete wack job and yet I fell head over heels for him."
"And Ollie is a complete sexist jerk but I still love him. I mean after I kicked his ass in sparring of course!"
All the ladies except Mari laughed. She was still reeling from a break up. But she decided she was not going to be the cynic and ruin a good time with her friends. Unfortunately, Beatriz brought up the topic of relationships again when they passed a news stand and grabbed a headline.
At first nothing seem special about it which puzzled the other four ladies. But after closer examination they realized the headline was announcing that Pulitzer Prize winning reporter Lois Lane had call off her an engagement with a media mogul instead to be engaged to a fellow reporter by the name of Clark Kent.
"Now what the hell is going on here?" asked Helena confused. She was definitely reconsidering on rejoining the League now.